The 3 Safety Tips You Need to Know Before Dating Online

January 31, 2017

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All online dating sites know how important it is to protect their users. That’s why bulking up security measures to prevent online dating scams has been a huge focus and priority over the past several years. And while technology can make online dating a safer experience, there isn’t a better security measure than your own intuition.

To help you develop that intuition, here are 3 easy to use safety tips:

1. Do the Due Diligence Necessary

A nice profile and a good dose of charm doesn’t mean real love. Do a reverse Google image search to find out if their name matches their face. Look the person up on Facebook to see that they have friends and a real profile. Check out their LinkedIn to make sure their career lines up with what you’ve been told. You don’t need to perform a full background check, just enough to make sure the person checks out. Note that many dating sites, like Jdate and Elite Singles, will offer a direct link to users' social media profiles, making it further easier to tap into potential matches' profiles (for reassurance and fact checking purposes only, of course...).

2. Use the Features Offered by the Sites

Safety is paramount for dating sites. Not only are they there to connect people, they are there to protect people. So use the security features offered by the sites themselves! Here are a few examples to keep your eye out for and, more importantly, use:

Zoosk Photo Verification

Zoosk Photo Verification is a review process that ensures the profile photos used by members actually look like the people that upload them. To do this, users send in a 7-second “selfie” video that moderators review and compare to the profile. Once everything matches up, the user will receive an email informing them that a Photo Verified badge is added to their Zoosk profile. This notifies other members that the user is in fact real.

matchTalkTM allows match.com members to talk on the phone without disclosing their personal information. That means that if you want to talk with someone you’ve been messaging with, you can do so without revealing your contact information. This helps to keep you or any match.com user that much safer.

3. Check the Security Measures

When choosing a dating site, factor in security. An easy way to check on the site’s security is to look for ‘https’ at the beginning of the URL. The ‘s’ - which stands for ‘secure’- means a protocol to encrypt communications has been implemented. This is especially important for those logging in from unsecured networks - like a coffee shop. One of the online dating pioneers for this type of security safety was the senior-specific site OurTime​, but most others have since followed suit.

Top10BestDatingSites Staff

The Top 10 Best Dating Sites staff are your guides to the world of online dating websites and services. The team navigates the world of online dating and share their findings to help readers find online dating success. Our team includes dating experts Laurel House, Ken Solin, James Preece, Erika Ettin, Nida Sea, Vanae Tran, Carmelia Ray and many more talented writers. Top 10 Best Dating Sites staff have extensive first-hand experience in: signing up for and using various online dating sites; researching the ever-growing online dating market; and copywriting and editing for various online and print publications about online dating.

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This site is a free online resource that strives to offer helpful content and comparison features to its visitors. Please be advised that the operator of this site accepts advertising compensation from companies that appear on the site, and such compensation impacts the location and order in which the companies (and/or their products) are presented, and in some cases may also impact the rating that is assigned to them. To the extent that ratings appear on this site, such rating is determined by our subjective opinion and based on a methodology that aggregates our analysis of brand market share and reputation, each brand's conversion rates, compensation paid to us and general consumer interest. Company listings on this page DO NOT imply endorsement. Except as expressly set forth in our Terms of Use, all representations and warranties regarding the information presented on this page are disclaimed. The information, including pricing, which appears on this site is subject to change at any time.

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